New trapezoidal box is harder to stack but much easier to open.

If you want to feel like you're buying an iMac but you don't want to drop the cash (or if you're waiting for the 27-inch version), we've got you covered today: first we told you what it was like to try to get one early this morning, and now that we've succeeded in our quest, we're going to walk you through taking the new computer out of its box.

Apple is known for paying close attention to the packaging of its products, and while other computer makers have improved their own boxes quite a bit in the last few years, new Apple boxes are still noteworthy enough for a picture tour.

The first thing you'll notice is that the new iMac's box is thinner than the old one, but not quite in the way you'd think. The old box was perfectly rectangular, but the new box is trapezoidal, with a wider base and narrower top. This seems like it would make the computers difficult to stack up if you've got a lot of them.

Remove the styrofoam block and you'll get your first glimpse at the computer. Older iMacs would need to be yanked upward out of their boxes at this point, an annoying process especially for the large, heavy 27-inch models. Not so anymore: the new box has a front face that falls completely open.

Enlarge/ The front and back sides of the box aren't actually attached to one another.

The styrofoam in the bottom of the box is also a bit different than it was before. Previously, there were two big chunks of foam that grabbed at the base of the iMacs and didn't want to let you pull it out of the box; now, you can easily lift the iMac off of the styrofoam bases and then pull the remaining foam off from the left and right. Much easier.

Enlarge/ The iMac and some of the styrofoam lifts off of a couple styrofoam bases...

Enlarge/ Peeling the cloth and plastic wrappers off of the iMac will reveal your new computer.

Andrew Cunningham

The first thing you notice once you've actually extricated the iMac from its various wrappings is that it is indeed much slimmer than previous models. It's not uniformly thin throughout as some of Apple's product photos would have you believe, but it is much thinner and much less boxy. The non-reflective screen is also immediately apparent; when I photograph most gadgets, I need to take great pains not to appear reflected in their super-glossy screens. You can't see me in the picture of the iMac despite the fact that I'm sitting right in front of it. Some reflections, especially light sources, still appear, but the situation is much improved over every iMac since the 2007 model introduced the aluminum-and-glass aesthetic to the line.

Enlarge/ The iMac looks the same from the front, if you don't count the non-reflective screen.

Enlarge/ But from the side, the computer is much slimmer. There is, of course, no optical drive.

Andrew Cunningham

We have yet to turn the system on, so we'll leave further observations for our full review. One final thing to note is the iMac's complement of ports. The 21.5-inch iMac picks up a second Thunderbolt port for the first time, and the SD card slot has been moved to the rear—in older iMacs the SD card slot was adjacent to the optical drive, and we've heard some horror stories about people who have inserted their cards into the wrong slot by mistake.

135 Reader Comments

The crippled 21.5" version is nothing to get excited about. If Apple insists on removing features from a desktop computer to make them optional accessories, then don't charge the same price as the previous model that included those features. The speed increase isn't that spectacular.

According to Geekbench (which only measures CPU and RAM), the new 21.5" hi-end iMac is 25% faster then the previous 21.5" hi-end iMac. It's also about 10% faster than the previous 27" inch hi-end iMac. That's an OK improvement in my book. And the thing is that there just hasn't been all that much progress when it comes to CPUs.

The GPU remains to be seen, but I think that there will be substantial improvements there as well.

Quote:

Even the base model 27" now costs $100 more than the previous model that included features that were removed. If you want to remove features, great, but how about lowering the price a few bucks for those features that were removed?

Having to give up my office for a nursery so need to build something that fits on the kitchen table and can be tucked behind the sofa when not in use, but doubles as a desk.

You're going to kick your poor little computer out of its room for some ungrateful kid?

Have an upvote...

Computers plural, sadly! And tools, random bits of cable and assorted other useful stuff I have accumulated. In thirty years I will show her this post and ask "where's my damn jetpack you should have invented by now".

The guy who decided to place the SD Card reader on the back of the iMac is now in charge of designing the OS X interface… I love the build quality and the aesthetics of Jonys creations. But he is the kind of guy that when faced with a decision where usability and visual purity clashes almost exclusively seems to go with what looks best.

I'm neither a designer, nor one who thinks the SD card placement is ideal, but I suspect that having all the ports in one place makes the computer more economic in both component manufacture and product assembly.

I agree with two of those three parts. I'm not so sure about the design part: The SD card slot placement is pretty bad design*, and the bulbous back (while seldom seen) is a minor step backwards from the flat of the previous models.

*''Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like,'' says Steve Jobs, Apple's C.E.O. ''People think it's this veneer -- that the designers are handed this box and told, 'Make it look good!' That's not what we think design is. It's not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.'' (link)

The guy who decided to place the SD Card reader on the back of the iMac is now in charge of designing the OS X interface… I love the build quality and the aesthetics of Jonys creations. But he is the kind of guy that when faced with a decision where usability and visual purity clashes almost exclusively seems to go with what looks best.

I'm neither a designer, nor one who thinks the SD card placement is ideal, but I suspect that having all the ports in one place makes the computer more economic in both component manufacture and product assembly.

Not really, the aluminium is machined and the assembly of one thing a few centimetres away on a 2D plane (very short extra movement required) doesn't seem like it would do any bit of a difference in real life. Especially not when compared to the extra strain required to fiddle with something behind a machine. Also, would my words bear any more weight if I said I am a member of the European Ergonomics and Human Factors Society?

I've just jumped onto the local Apple Store website and it appears that the 27inch version is at least 3-4 weeks away from shipping. I can understand the logic with ultrabooks given that space is as a premium but I cannot understand the logic of why one would castrate the ability to perform an upgrade of memory after purchasing a 21.5 inch model - it just doesn't make any sense what so ever. Add to that the inability to upgrade hard disk/replace hard disk at a later date once the hardware falls out of warranty. I remember years ago I upgraded my hard disk in my first Intel iMac and sure I paid NZ$160 for installation but I could purchase an off the shelf hard disk and pay to get it installed. Fast forward recently where they changed the pin arrangement thus making third party hard disks impossible to install and now the recent change where the computer is sealed shut as if it were protecting something special inside that us mere mortals aren't allowed to see or touch. The ooh-aaah factor definitely is there but when the rubber hits the road the amount to plonk down for such a device in my case really can't be justified.

Regarding the loss of the optical drive - Apple isn't the only one doing it. Go onto Lenovo's store and you'll find that their ThinkCentre desktops do not come standard with an optical drive - it is something you actually have to 'opt-in' for rather than an automatic give in. For me I have an ultrabook already (ThinkPad X1 Carbon) so I bought a Samsung BluRay drive along with an external hard disk. I simply use that optical drive for both machines (ThinkCentre and ThinkPad) and to be perfectly frank the number of times I have used the optical drive can probably be counted on one hand in the last six months. For me the idea of having an optical drive is no longer a 'must have' thing just as having an PCI audio card is no longer a must have thing given that the on board audio cards these days do a pretty damn good job.

It's not for me, and I'm good with people loving that it's thinner (cause that was a problem everyone had with the previous iMac...no wait no one ever said that), but I just don't see why omissions are now a feature?

Including the base, I'm sure it'll fit on most peoples' desks, unless you're in prison

Omissions are always sold as a feature these days. Companies outsource the work to their customers, make them pay for it, and sell it as freedom or feature.

Actually pretty easy to stack, just create each layer by putting boxes next to each other, alternating the box's orientation up/down/up/down, etc.

I think it be more stable to lay the box on its broad side and stack it by alternating the orientation left right vs up down.

Either way, not hard to stack and if they can stuff 5% more iMacs in a shipping container, they’re saving on shipping costs again.

In terms of packing a rectangular space for volume shipping; with the same footprint, one can pack 4 of these trapezoidal boxes in the space of 3 cubic ones. Less space but more weight in the same volume.

In terms of packing a rectangular space for volume shipping; with the same footprint, one can pack 4 of these trapezoidal boxes in the space of 3 cubic ones. Less space but more weight in the same volume.

New iMacs weigh a lot less. 21 pounds versus, 30 for the 27"i think in the example the four new come out to a 6 pound savings.

not meant to contradict but to point out another feature of the design.

The thing that struck me first is how light it is. At 12lbs and $1299 it is lighter and cheaper than the Macintosh Portable (Apples first laptop weighed 15lbs and cost $6500 in 1989). I am not crazy about the lack of upgradability or the positioning of the ports (my 2011 imac is parked in my office/closet, where it is hard to get behind it) but it is really a stunning machine. Considering how few people upgrade their computers, I can understand why Apple did this, but I tend to keep my computers for a long time, so I usually upgrade before retiring it.

You'd be surprised, actually. Sometimes even a powered hub isn't enough for some hardware when you have lots of it. I have an amazing 12 USB devices in frequent use, 1-2 hard drives, 4 music/audio-related ones and one development iPad included. Some of them are low-traffic, but some absolutely don't like sharing bandwidth/power. As long as you can manage with merely 4 ports at a time you can switch in and out all day under circumstances like mine

The combination of placement and the number of ports is a good reason to get Thunderbolt expansions, in my opinion. I wish Apple had more USB ports on their computers

Nothing personal, but I don't see this as a valid complaint really. The device has numerous ports besides the USB ones. The fact that you use USB for everything and thus need a hub is not a reason to design the device differently or add more USB ports.

Who uses a USB hard drive anymore? You could get 2x, 3x, or even 4X speed improvements in all of those peripherals by switching away from old, clunky USB 2.0 stuff.

Open the machine up already! We want to know how user upgradeable the new machine is :-)

Update: Nevermind it appears that actually Apple glued the entire machine together as reported on that japanese website. They needed a hot air gun to release the glue. No buy for me then.

Since when has iMac been the computer of choice for those who want to upgrade the internals of their computers?

I see your point, but at least until now people who liked to tinker around and forego the huge Apple premium on BTO options had the capability to do so easily. I'm pretty sure that opening up the new machine will now void your warranty.

That being said I like to be able to exchange my Harddisk drive by myself even after warranty and Apple Care is already passed. Able "offered" to get me a new Keyboard on my old 2008 unibody MacBook Pro and I kindly refused after they said it would be 600€. I'm sure one would have to pay something in that figure just to get a Harddisk replacement.

Also I'm very unimpressed by the Fusion drive. While technical pretty neat the only one gaining from this is Apple. They are selling you a 128GB SSD for 250€. You already got more bang for the buck on last years models...

Still I love Apple...the iMac is just not for me. I love working on my 13" Retina MacBook Pro, but I just ordered all the components to build my own Windows gaming rig after all those little things I didn't like about the new iMac. After all I guess Apple just doesn't produce any desktop I would want/need. No hard feelings though.

In terms of packing a rectangular space for volume shipping; with the same footprint, one can pack 4 of these trapezoidal boxes in the space of 3 cubic ones. Less space but more weight in the same volume.

...not meant to contradict but to point out another feature of the design.

I knew apple had an obsession with cats, but including live cats in the box is an outrage!!!

You are so right, dear! The cat-boxing must be stopped! Can someone currently in the UK inform the RSPCA please! Thousands of hapless cats, boxed, in almost airless containers, shipped from China across the oceans!

I agree with two of those three parts. I'm not so sure about the design part: The SD card slot placement is pretty bad design*, and the bulbous back (while seldom seen) is a minor step backwards from the flat of the previous models.

*''Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like,'' says Steve Jobs, Apple's C.E.O. ''People think it's this veneer -- that the designers are handed this box and told, 'Make it look good!' That's not what we think design is. It's not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.'' (link)

Though… As a whole, it looks great.

Well, I would guess that you can learn to use the slot even without seeing it. And the bulbous back is more or less an illusion, since its not any thicker than the previous iMac was, it just looks like that because the edges are so much thinner.

I can see how an SD slot wouldn't fit anywhere else with the new design, but I really don't see the point of having it at the back, obscured by the stand? That seems pretty inaccessible...

The SD card slot clearly offset from the centerline of the iMac so it's not obscured by the stand. However, by being on the back of the iMac it is completely obscured by the entire iMac itself. Good luck while you grope around blind as you try to insert your SD card into the slot. Whoa, there's a double meaning in that...

I knew apple had an obsession with cats, but including live cats in the box is an outrage!!!

You are so right, dear! The cat-boxing must be stopped! Can someone currently in the UK inform the RSPCA please! Thousands of hapless cats, boxed, in almost airless containers, shipped from China across the oceans!

Macs are shipped by air freight, not by sea cargo. And the cargo holds of these planes are pressurized and heated (if not very comfortably). So the cats should be alright (if alive).

I guess Apple is due a support call from me about the cat missing from my iMac shipment. There was only a mouse included... 8-)

I guess Apple is due a support call from me about the cat missing from my iMac shipment. There was only a mouse included... 8-)

Hence "Magic" Mouse…

Yeah; Maybe they've managed to manipulate the uncertainty of the cat being alive or dead, squeezing in a third alternative with the cat actually turning into a mouse and pegging that state's probability to near(?) 1.

Cue support call:

Customer:Hello Apple Care? My Magic Mouse has just turned into a dead cat while I wasn't looking!

Apple Care:Don't worry – that happens just occasionally. If it doesn't revert back when you next don't look at it, something may be wrong with its probability settings and we'll send you a replacement right away.

I know they're considered "old school" nowadays, but lacking an optical drive on a 27" machine seems a bit odd to me. My kids have plenty of movies they love to watch and re-watch on DVD and I've got some too. Isn't media-watching a big part of what you do with a 27" all-in-one? And unlike a laptop, on a 27" all-in-one there's no compelling "we needed to cut a quarter-inch of thickness" argument against including an optical drive.

Well then maybe once they open up a 27" machine you can repost that comment again. This is the 21.5".

Macs are shipped by air freight, not by sea cargo. And the cargo holds of these planes are pressurized and heated (if not very comfortably). So the cats should be alright (if alive).

But... look how tight they're packed, out in the cold for an hour! DOA every one of them! I know from the cousin of my uncle's friend's daughter, who knows someone that used to work part-time in an Apple store, how they remove them in the store room at the back. It's terrible!

I know someone will hate me for saying this, but I'm sure you'll write 4 more articles on your iMac before the end of next week, all mostly saying the same shit (see: iPad coverage) and I'd just like to request that you give the same level of gushing, biased worship to other cool electronics products.

I can appreciate pointing out the odd-shaped box, but come on. If you guys are going to spend 8 paragraphs talking about the damn box, maybe you could start covering unboxing other NON-APPLE hot items? I'm just sick of Appletechnica instead of Arstechnica.

Ars does a good job of covering the whole industry as and when something actually happens. The author noted from the outset that Apple pays a great deal of attention to presentation, and many people find that interesting. Otherwise, for the vast majority of tech companies, you see one box and you've seen them all.

It be a relief if everyone could resist writing "I find this boring so it shouldn't be written" You could see what the article was about from the title alone - if that's not your thing then skip over it.

Okay, I really have to address this.

1) If you've seen one Apple box, you've pretty much seen them all.

2) You should take a look at the boxes for the Google Nexus tablet products, Kindle products and even Nook.

3) I never said the ARTICLE shouldn't be written. What I'm getting at is that it seems Ars writes multiple articles basically reassessing the same topic they just covered earlier in the week, and often the topic in question is an Apple product.

I'm not exaggerating here. When the iPad Mini was announced there were four articles on the main page within about a 48 hour period, three of which were essentially varied levels of detail reviewing the item. One clearly detailed and complete review should suffice.

I for one was ecstatic about the iPad Mini, but I wasn't even sure which article to read. It turned out, NONE of them, because they all mentioned to "wait for the official review". It's overkill.

There was recently two articles referencing the new HTC Android posted on the SAME day covering the SAME information, one of which had more detailed pictures and gave the author's opinion, but the first of which was unnecessary and made the second one rather redundant. Five days later, there was a third article reviewing the same phone using benchmarks. The second and third articles could have been combined to create a full review, but instead we got two incomplete reviews.

A similar search about iPad Mini will show that even though Ars had a hands-on experience with the device on Oct 23, there were at lease 3 articles focusing on the tech specs, two of them focusing also specifically on the thickness of the device, both of those written by the same author.

Redundancy is, well, redundant. Having these reviews compiled into a more complete article, rather than a series of small blog posts would be more valuable.

This is first time I have seam styrofoam in Apple packaging in years (not saying they stopped using just that I thought they had for environmental reasons). Just unpacked a Dell 27" display the other day. All folded cardboard. Apparently foam is sexy again, and I don't think the curvilinear profile of iMac is de determining factor.

So you can't attach your own monitor stand/arm to this one? That's a downer. It's crazy that they still don't use a adjustable stand even more so that they change the stand-connector so you can't use the Apple-store supplied VESA-adapter kits. I hope they do come out with another one that is compatible.